Misery Loves Company
by Stockholm
Summary: The Twentieth Hunger Games. Just a normal, old games, right? Wrong. You chose the characters, and now you get to see which of your's outlives, outkills, and outwits the others. Rated T for language and descriptive violence.
1. The Reaping

Jack Clyde, the boy that needed no one. That's how he thought of himself, Jack; The one who'd refuse even the wealthiest and generous person's offers with a shrug and a wave of his pale, bony hand. Though, of course, it wasn't like the mere thought of sharing with the poorer folk had ever once crossed any of the District commoner's minds. Generosity was a rare sight around District one, as was any form of kindness, and it didn't exactly matter, since there weren't many poor citizens in the particular District. In fact, District One was the most opulent of all the Districts. They were obviously favored by the Capitol, seeing that their resource was the oh-so-precious diamond. They loved how the Capitol gawked at their precious jewels, glorifying every one of the gleaming thing's edges with their sickly-dyed fingers. Their eye's lusted after the clear gemstones, knowing they'd never find one anywhere else, not forgetting that if they wanted them, they'd get them; more and more until their fancy drawers over-flowed with them. The Diamond-District's Residents clearly enjoyed the attention they received, hoping, nevertheless knowing, that the Capitol's fascination with the jewels would never wane.

"I hate them," Jack muttered to no one in particular as he passed by yet another diamond shop. He gazed through the shop's window in agitation, watching as a man behind the counter chatted comically to a customer, who's eyes unblinkingly lye on the diamonds underneath the glass case before her. Jack almost laughed, puzzled at why the diamonds had such a hypnotizing effect on people. Diamonds were simply possessions; what could they do for District one, for Panem? All the large, clear things could do was give someone the feeling of rich-pleasure as it pressed against their necks, or hung around their fingers. What was the use of devoting your life to finding and selling useless items? _Here in District One, where beauty ranks higher in importance then all-else, what was pleasing to the eye was definitely important_, thought Jack. _And of course_, he added, almost as a side thought_, it's what the Capitol wants_.

Jack's thoughts on the subject somewhat diminished as his eyes fell upon a girl making her way down the road next to him. He watched her intently as she slid past him, her face lit up in a bright smile, every step she took filled with a spring of obvious joy. Jack eyed the girl suspiciously, wondering what could have caused a single person to be so happy; especially on a day like this. Seeming to notice Jack's eyes boring into her back, she abruptly stopped and turned to face him. Her blonde hair swung heavily at her waist, while the sun's rays took hold of her exasperatingly gorgeous face. The girl's eyes shone brightly as she looked Jack up and down. Her eyes found a resting spot on his face, and she began to speak.

"Hello," Her voice sounded musical and song-like, leaving Jack in a sort of hypnotic daze. "I'm Glitter," She continued, "I don't think we've met." Still smiling, she put out her dainty, pale hand, waiting for Jack to slip his into hers and shake it in return. Jack eyed the girl's offer, but reluctantly accepted her greeting. After Jack had quickly let go, Glitter began again, "What's your name?" She said, her arms dropping to her side, beginning to toy with the hem of her short dress.

"Jack." He replied plainly. Glitter nodded, her shimmering eyes not moving from the place they had settled.

"I haven't seen you around school, and you don't look like you've graduated... Do you attend?" She leaned her bare shoulder against the concrete wall beside them. Jack merely shook his head, not daring to say a word. Glitter's eyes questioned him.

"Why is that?" She pressed. Jack suddenly became uncomfortable. This was the most human contact he'd had in a while. He shrugged, hoping she hadn't noticed that he took a step back. "I don't know." He said menacingly, glowering down at the petite girl before him.

"Oh," Glitter said, breaking their gaze for no longer then a second, her full pink lips widening once more into a large, bright-toothed grin. Jack pressed his lips together; forming a somewhat forced smile, hoping it looked that way. Glitter stepped back a few feet, tilting her head cutely at him. She winked, turning then, breaking off into a sprint in the other direction.

Jack Shook his head, laughing inwardly. "That was weird," He mused, looking towards the bright sky. He thought about the girl he'd just met, still stunned by her uncommon joy. He'd only ever seen the look that she'd had on her face on the people who were admiring or purchasing diamonds…

"Jack!" He heard someone call his name from behind him. He recognized the voice immediately, turning to the direction in which the voice had come. He saw a tall, pale boy with white-blonde hair and pale blue eyes run up to him. Zeak; the only person he'd considered a friend.

"Hey, man! On your way to the reaping?" The boy chimed in, slapping Jack on the back heartily. Jack looked over at his friend, glad that he'd caught up with him. "Sure am." He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. Zeak nodded, crossing his pale arms over his chest, "Good thing were not Careers, isn't it?" He said, nudging his friend with his elbow.

Jack smiled, letting out a breathy laugh, "Hell yeah. The chances of us getting chosen are slim."

"Very slim, my friend, Very slim." Zeak interlaced his fingers and pressed them behind his neck, his elbows sticking out to the left and right. "What nice weather for such a terrible day." Jack agreed whole-heartedly. _What a waste, _he thought.

The two boys walked side-by-side in silence for the next twenty minutes, attempting and failing at topics for conversation. How could they 'chat' as if it were a normal day, when it was anything but? In the silence, the girl Jack had met earlier drifted back into his thoughts. He couldn't seem to push her image out of his head. Her sing-song voice slid in and out of his mind, lulling him quietly…

He shook his head violently, forcing him to think of things other then her, and so he did. Soon they reached the District's Centre. Gathered there was a large crowd, most likely the entire district. In front of the crowd stood a tall, decorated stage. That was where the names of the tributes were to be drawn. Zeak and Jack made their way, difficultly, if I might add, over to the section that held the boy's their year. They sat in seemingly vacant chairs, waiting silently for the Reaping to begin, the crowd surrounding them buzzing with loud voices. The air was filled with chaos as people struggled to their seats.

"Ahem!" A woman's voice rang from atop the stage. The voices of the crowd settled a bit as they found their way to their spots. "Please, everyone sit down! The Reaping is about to begin!" The woman was Arta Maysel; District One's maniacal Reaping's host for the past twenty years. She, obviously, was a resident of the capitol. Arta quickly yanked on her long, puffy blue hair, making sure the wig would stay put. Clearing her voice for the second time, completely shushing the once-roaring crowd, she began her speech.

"Hello, all! And welcome to the Twentieth annual Hunger Games!" Jack knew she'd been expecting whoops and cheers from the audience, but none came. Silence fell over the residents as they knowingly informed Arta of their unhappiness. She shifted on her feet uncomfortably, looking down at her podium and shuffling through papers. She looked over her shoulder at a fancily dressed man sitting behind her on a tall wooden chair. The man wore a scowl on his face as he looked out at the group of District one-errs before him. "Er, Mr. Mayor? Would you like to come present your speech?" Arta whispered, failing an attempt to cover the microphone and block out the sound of her voice through the speakers. The mayor's emotionless eyes looked up to her. He shrugged grunting loudly. "No, the speech isn't important. Just get to drawing the names." He waved his hand boredly, looking back out that the crowd. Arta turned back to the podium, realigning her wig.

"Well," She said awkwardly, "It looks like we'll be getting straight to drawing this year's tributes!" She quickly placed a large smile on her face and made her way over to the large glass bowls toward the back of the stage.

"Here we go." Muttered Zeak, bumping his shoulder into Jack's.

"I wish you all luck, and let the odds be _ever_ in your favor!" Arta added, as if she was reading the line off of a script. "Ladies first!" And at that, she dug her pink-dyed hand into the bowl full of female names. After digging around a bit, her hand submerged. She unraveled the paper and then looked up at the audience, smiling. "Glitter Reuba!"

_Oh god_, Jack thought. _What are the chances? H_e asked himself, a feeling of frustration and sorrow sweeping over him. Glitter looked to be no older then fourteen! How was she going to survive in the games? Jack watched, a pit forming at the bottom of his stomach, as the kind girl he'd met earlier made her way onto the stage. Her face was masked in fear; although it was obvious she was giving her all to hide it.

"Congratulations!" Arta said, squealing while shaking the new tribute's hand roughly. Glitter forced a smile upon her full lips, letting her eyes drop to the ground fearfully. "Alright!" Arta continued, leaving Glitter to stand awkwardly on the stage, fiddling with her dress' hem , just as she'd done whilst talking to Jack. "Time for our male tribute!" She bounced over to the glass bowl that held the boy's names. Picking one quickly off the top, she read it aloud. "Kurt Brooks!" Jack heard sobbing erupt from the left side of the audience almost immediately, as a small boy, face wet with tears, stood shakily and sulked up onto the stage. Jack felt a pang of guilt as he watched the small boy, who looked to be about twelve, stand next to Glitter. Kurt wiped at his eyes, his thin shoulders rising and falling from the impact of the cries of pain and fear. Jack knew he couldn't let the boy die. It wasn't right. Panem may be cruel, but this was just not acceptable-

"I volunteer as tribute! For Kurt, I volunteer!" Jack shot into a standing position before he knew what he was doing. Kurt, who'd had his face in his hands, looked up, shock laced in his eyes. Jack couldn't believe what he'd just done. He reminded himself over and over that it was the right thing. He'd saved the kid's life. He had to do it.


	2. Meet your mentor

**A/N: Alright, so here's chapter two! Yes, yes, I know I made you wait a long time. I apologize; but it's not like I have many readers anyway, so it's all good ;). Oh, and if you did not submit your character with a last name, I decided to make one for them (as crappy as the names may be). And, also, I made some of the tributes Careers. Every HG fic has to have at least one career, come on people. So I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please please PLEASE review. :D I want to know what you all think.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins does), but seeing that this story does not have any of the book's original characters, I own all of the people in this Fic. **

Jack sat quietly in the dark room, hunched over; his head in his hands, knowing no one would come to say good-bye. Zeak had come earlier, shaking his head vigorously and cursing Jack two times over for volunteering. With both of his parents dead, no one else was going to visit. He heard loud sobs from the room next to him; the room that Glitter was in. _She must have a lot of visitors, _Jack thought. Glitter had a family; one she would be leaving behind to go to the hunger games. She was being snatched away from her family, and was most likely never to see them again.

Interrupting his thoughts, the door to the room he was in swung open. A tall man in a peacekeeper uniform stood in the opening, gesturing for Jack to come with him, "Time to go; No more visitors." Jack sighed, got to his feet, and sulked over to the door. Just as he left the room, Jack saw Glitter departing hers. Her blue eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained her face. She looked up at him with a sad smile. Jack tried at keeping his face unemotional, and uncaring. "Where are you taking us?" Jack mustered up the courage to ask.

The peacekeeper didn't move his gaze, "The train. We're going to meet your mentor." Jack Nodded, letting his thoughts wander hatefully to the previous game's winner. Glade Markings. Glade was that oh-so-handsome guy that everyone constantly fawned over, making complete fools out of themselves as they wept for the boy they'd never met, but heard of, on the day of the 19th Reaping. Glade had won himself the winner's title using mere inelegance; the type no one thought he'd ever had. Of course, his dashing-smile and unbelievably good looks played a part in his victory, too. Sponsor's tripped over each other, seeing who could shower him with the most gifts. If he hoped for food, he got it; He never once had to deal with the hunger everyone else had, and not a single time did he acquire an injury and not see himself healed from a sponsor's generous medication within the next five minutes. Even now, in his breathtaking mansion, he was waited on hand and foot. Many a butler he had, and his wish was their command.

An anger rose inside Jack as thoughts of this unendingly worshipped boy over-flowed his head. How could he depend on this guy to teach him enough to keep him alive? He didn't know.

"You doing' okay?" Glitter asked from beside him in her song-like voice. Jack wasn't sure she should be the one to ask this, it being that she was the one crying, but he nodded anyway.

Glitter smiled, wiping at her eyes. "Coincidence, right? That the two of us would be picked... " She said with a small laugh that was as beautiful as her voice. Jack couldn't help but smile.

"It's time to meet your mentor." The peacekeeper interrupted the two. Jack hadn't noticed that they'd reached the capitol train. Jack sighed, crossing his arms over his well-muscled chest as he waited for their mentor to come greet them. _Probably thinks it best to be fashionably late, _Jack thought, scoffing. The trio waited a few minutes before the train's door swung open.

"Hello, my tributes!" A cheery voice rang from inside of the train, signaling that Glade had arrived. The tall, tanned, beauty stepped out of the cart, his hands on his hips, and his chest puffed out pride fully. "I am Glade, your mentor! Pleased to be at your service." He faked a bow, swiveling his hand as he bent down in mock respect. He looked up at them, cocked his head too the side, and frowned. "Not a very joyful bunch, now are we?" He stuck his lower lip out and bent his head. Jack groaned, glaring at his new mentor.

Glade lifted his eyebrows in surprise, "What's your name, kiddo?" He asked, still smiling. Jack rolled his eyes, "Kiddo? I'm only a year younger then you." Glade nodded, his eyes still set on Jack, "That's nice. You gonna' tell me your name?" He questioned once more, shoving his hands into his tight jean's pockets and rocking on his heels.

"Jack," He said plainly, not wanting to talk to Glade any longer.

Glade smirked, shook his head, whispering, "So immature…", and turned his attention swiftly to Glitter. "Well, hello, my lady." He said with a wink. He crossed his toned arms across his chest and flexed. Glitter frowned, coughed in annoyance, and then quickly lit her face up in a bright smile. It was obvious to Jack that she was faking the sudden happiness in seeing Glade, and this brought a smile to his face. "What might I call you?" He continued.

"Glitter." She replied, grinning awkwardly. Glade nodded, looking up at the peacekeeper lingering beside Jack. "Thank you for escorting them down there, Terry. You may go now." Terry, the peacekeeper, smiled, his eyes gleaming in wonder at the boy before him, "Yes, alright," and he left.

Glade flung open the train door, stepped inside, and beckoned the two tributes in after him. They did as he wanted, sitting down on a soft couch pressed up against the wall. The train was huge. Bigger then where Jack was staying. The entirety of the wall was lined with fancy couches, and in the middle of the room sat an elegant marble table overflowing with foods foreign to Jack. From the pearly-white ceiling hung a glittering diamond-chandelier, and below it a bright red laced carpet was spread across the wooden floor.

As soon as the door had shut, Glade's smile faded. He dropped himself onto the table, interlacing his fingers and stretching his arms out before him, "Alright," He began, his tone dropping an octave lower, making him sound exhausted and bored, "You got any special skills? What can you do?" He stared at the duet in utter boredom, his dark blue eyes drooping tiredly. Jack narrowed his eyes at Glade and tilted his head questioningly.

"What?" Glade asked, slumping back into the wooden chair he sat on. Jack lifted his eyebrows while his mouth hung open in confusion. "What was that back there?" He said, throwing his arms into the air. What had made Glade completely change after the peacekeeper left?

Glade shrugged, "A little act I've gotta keep up for the disciplinary-capitol folk. Play's well with 'em." He said, smirking. Jack shook his head and chuckled, "so, basically, you're not the perky, conceited guy that everyone came to know and love during the games?" He said, his voice lased with sarcasm. Glade merely nodded, "I'm actually pretty boring. Not much to me. Just another scared kid that was sucked into the Games; just like you." Jack ran a hand through his hair and snuck a glance over at Glitter, hoping she was as dumbstruck as he was. She had one of her eyebrows lifted, and a smile played upon her face. "You better be helpful…" Jack mumbled, half-hoping Glade had heard him. And he had.

"Well, I won the games, so I sure _hope _I'm helpful." He scoffed, letting his head drop back to look at the ceiling. "Spiffy trains, eh?" He said. "Nice little patterns they got in the roof." He seemed to be enjoying himself, examining the room. His face fell back down to look at Jack and Glitter. He sighed, "Damn, I got a quiet group this time around. Good. You tributes can get pretty obnoxious." He tapped his thin fingers against the table, making random noises through his lips and teeth, signaling that he was trying to make his boredom known.

"Well, what now?" Glitter said, leaning onto her knees. Glade looked up at her and forced his face into mock-surprise. "She speaks!" He exclaimed as he shook his fists in the air happily. "It's time to watch the other District's reapings! Exciting, yes?" He stood, yawning and patting his mouth. "Come on, follow me." He waved his hand and turned towards a door in the back of the room. He made his way down the hallway, sweeping carelessly past capitol workers.

After a minute or so, they came to a halt at the end of the train. "Right in here," Glade said as he lead Glitter and Jack into a small room. It was much more boring then the rest they'd seen on the train; it held three metal chairs, a flat-screen TV, and a large black rug. In the corner stood a metal coffee table with pads of note paper and pens on top. Glade stepped over to the coffee table, scooped up the note-pads and pens, and handed them to the tributes. "Make yourself comfortable," Glade said, "we should be here for awhile. After we watch the Reapings, we will discuss which tributes we think'll be most threatening. Make sure you take notes on all of them. It's important you get their names, districts, ages, looks, build, yadda, yadda, yadda. Everything. Comprende?" He said, settling himself into one of the chairs, quickly followed by Jack and Glitter. They both nodded and Glade flicked on the TV. Jack set his note-pad on his lap as District two came onto the screen.

And this is what he wrote:

_**DISTRICT TWO:**_

_Female: Ayira Carlson. 13. Small. Skinny. Looks afraid. Shouldn't be much of a threat, but you can never be sure. Looks like she can easily climb tress. Wouldn't be any good in hand-to-hand combat. _

_Male: Maxillo Way. 15. Looks more like a chick then he does a man. Pretty feminine. Judging from his build, he seems weak. Looks shy. Like the female from his district, he won't be great in combat without weapons. But with weapons, there's no knowing._

_**DISTRICT THREE:**_

_Female: Ella Mannes. 15. Small and thin. Not much muscle. Geeky. Probably pretty smart, seeing that she's from D3. Might need to watch out for her, even if she's not handy with weapons. _

_Male: Ken Lime. 13. Short, probably about 5'2". Thin. WAY too thin. Looks anorexic, even. Probably smart, too. Doesn't stand out as someone to watch out for. _

_**DISTRICT FOUR:**_

_Female: Sheek Nhett. A career. Muscular, tall, and though she's pretty, she looks threatening. She definitely looks like someone we need to look out for. She'd obviously be stronger and better with a weapon then the tributes seen so far. Confident looking._

_Male: Kevin Seafourth. 16. Another Career. Also muscular, handsome, and confident. I have the same thoughts on him as I do the Female._

_**DISTRICT FIVE:**_

_Female: Nyx Estaria. 14. looks pretty boring. Your cliché scared tribute. Nothing special. Not much to note on her. (Most likely smart)_

_Male: Asher Musk. 14 like the female. Boring. Everyone's the same this year. Competition doesn't LOOK too hard. Key word being LOOK. _

_**DISTRICT SIX: **_

_Female: Rose. 16. looks angry on stage. Volunteer's for an older chick. Most likely a wannabe-career. Looks a bit threatening and mean, maybe a little bit lacking in the smarts department. _

_Male: Gentian Grayson. 15. Short for his age, and a little skinny. Some muscle, not much, though. His face shows that he's bored on stage, but his eyes say he's scared. _

_**DISTRICT SEVEN:**_

_Female: Erina Woodsen. 15. Has a muscular body, but a child's face. Seems harmless. Probably pretty strong. Nothing more._

_Male: Will Marker. 14. Tall and skinny. Ugly. Not much muscle. Looks way too confident. Doesn't seem scared for the games. Most likely will die in the blood-bath._

_**DISTRICT EIGHT:**_

_Female: Niamh Silkwind. 15. Tall, skinny. Like all of the others so far. _

_Male: Hugo O'reily. 17. Looks a bit cocky, and amused. Tall, muscular. A threat. _

_**DISTRICT NINE:**_

_Female: Coby Sullivan. 13. Looks like a little pixie. Tiny. Looks like shes about to cry. No need to worry about her. _

_Male: Hayden Bennett. 15. Another cocky, smirking, smartass. Shouldn't be hard to deal with, based on his size. Looks like a bit of a psycho, though. Probably one of those weirdoes's._

_**DISTRICT TEN:**_

_Female: Aurelia Gavin. 16. Good-looking. Angry. Glaring at the crowd. Threat._

_Male: Gage. 15. Kind of awkward. Shifts on his feet while standing up on the stage. Slightly muscular._

_**DISTRICT ELEVEN.**_

_Female: Delilah Habernth. 14. Cute. Scared. Small. Not a threat, as far as I can tell. _

_Male: Damien Dracora. 15. Pretty tall and buff. Good-looking, should get sponsors. Threat. _

_**DISTRICT TWELVE.**_

_Female: Merfly Night. 14. Another angry one, I can see. She stares at the camera, doesn't really blink. Weird._

_Male: Jake Ringer. 15. Looks like he's spent a good chunk of his time sitting on the beach, which is weird since he lives in D12. Muscular, tall, handsome, the three most threatening things in a tribute. _

"Alright," Glade said, getting up with a groan and turning off the TV. "Who do you think we've gotta look out for?"


	3. Secrecy

"There are so many young kids…" Glitter said, looking over her note-pad sorrowfully. "I wish the age limit wasn't so low."

"Tough luck, prissy," Glade said as he snatched up the girl's notes. "Bunch of kids are going to die whether you like it or not. Now. Let's see, let's see…" He flopped down next to Jack, his pen in his mouth. "District Five? Why the hell would District five be a threat to us?" Glade tossed Glitter's notes back to her, moving his attention to Jack's. "Give it here." He said, still chewing on his pen. Jack nodded and his mentor the notes. After looking over the paper for a while, glade spoke.

"District four, District six, the chick from seven, guy from eight, chick from ten, guy from eleven, and both from twelve. Looks about right." Glade looked up, nodding. "Definitely gotta watch out for them." He got to his feet and patted himself heartily on the stomach. "Let's go get some chow. Glitter, you stay here and copy down Jack's notes. You're gonna need 'em, and yours suck ass." Glitter made a face and nodded, "Thanks." She sighed. The girl looked up at jack, managing a smile, "Have fun."

"I don't want you talking to Glitter." Glade said, spinning his spoon around in his soup. Jack barely looked up from his food; too busy shoveling it into his mouth. The food on the train was much nicer then the kind he'd been accustomed too. Back at home, all he ate was the left-overs from people's garbage's, or some animal he'd managed to find walking around the streets that he'd taken home, in hopes of cooking it for a meal without getting caught.

"Why not?" Jack muttered through the food packed into his mouth.

"Because, chatter leads to friendship, friendship will mean an alliance." Glade said, peaking under his eye-lashes to look at Jack. The boy raised his eyebrows in question.

"Oh, yeah? And what's wrong with that?"

"I want you with the Careers; you could easily pass as one of them. People will think you're a career, anyways. You're strong and from District One. AND you volunteered for that kid at the Reaping."

Jack dropped his spoon, "I'm not forming an alliance with the careers. I'd rather be with that…that little anorexic kid from three." He said, digging back into his food.

"Oh, really?" Glade chuckled as he bit into his role.

"Yeah. Really." Jack answered, "I'd actually prefer not being in an alliance at all. I'm better off by myself, anyway. You don't think I could do it?"

"Do what?"

"Make it alone?" Jack said, letting his spoon clatter back to his plate.

"No, that's not it; I think you'd do fine." Glade shrugged and wiped his mouth on his shirt sleeve. "I just think you'd do better with them, that's all. But go ahead; be by yourself, I don't care."

Jack grunted in reply, his face still buried in his going-on-empty plate.

"Done!" Glitter said, surprising the duet with her presence. "Here are your oh-so-precious notes, your highness." The pad of paper she held _thunked_ down in front of Glade, making him jump back. He picked papers up, examining Glitter's scrawled handwriting warily. He nodded, dropped them, and motioned for the girl to sit.

"So, what'd I miss?" Glitter said as she fumbled for her fork, desperate to begin her feasting. She crammed food into her mouth, groaning like an animal after every bite. "This is fantastic!" She sighed happily.

"Don't choke." Glade said, resting his head on the back of his chair, "You didn't miss anything. Piggy, here, was too busy jamming food down his throat." He rolled his eyes.

"You're lying." Glitter said her voice barely audible. "But I don't care; I'm too hungry." Jack stole a glance up at his mentor and raised an eyebrow, but made sure that Glitter had averted her attention.

Of course his mentor had lied. There's no way he'd tell her what he'd just told Jack. Though, what made Jack think that Glade was on his side? What made him think that his mentor wouldn't host ambiguous conversations with Glitter without Jack knowing, filling her in on things she needed to do, and negotiating Game Plans with her in secrecy? There was no way of knowing.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the boy sitting before him, wanting to know if he could trust him. Glade would have to pick which of them he wanted to save, which he was going to try his hardest to bring back. Jack looked at Glitter through the corner of his eye, sizing her up for a moment. She was strong; stronger then he'd thought. She had more muscles then he noticed before. Even has she sat there, her body now slumped tiredly against the table, the muscle in her arms showed. Jack glance quickly down at his own arms, flexing for a moment. He was definitely stronger then the girl sitting next to him. But how much smarter? Who had more of an appeal to the audience? He hoped against hope that Glade would choose him.

Hail pounded against Jack's room's window, waking him from the deep sleep he'd finally managed to fall into the night before. He'd been up all night, worry making his mind its home. His head drummed to the rhythm of his heartbeat, and he felt as if his head had separated from his body and decided to go off on its own. Of course, the drumming was caused by his repetitive thoughts, lulling him over and over, until his mind shut down altogether for the night. But now it was back up and running, and he couldn't escape his anxiety just yet.

"Hello," The drumming in his head slowed, along with the identical beat of his heart as Glitter spoke in her musical voice. Jack looked up, bringing a hand to his head. His vision teetered in and out of focus and the sights before him swam around in front of him, causing him to clamp his aching eyes shut. "Are you okay?" She continued as she took a step toward him.

"Yes. Just peachy." He grimaced. "You?

"I'm fine." Jack's eyes shot open in surprise as he realized that she'd sat down next to him. "What are you doing anyways?" He sat up, leaning his head against the headboard. He'd decided last night that he wasn't going to befriend this girl. He couldn't. Getting close to someone would just mean trouble.

"Are you sure? You look terrible." Glitter ignored his last question, pressing the back of her hand to his sweaty forehead. "You don't feel warm, just a bit clammy. Are you in pain?"

He looked up at her in disbelief, "Does it LOOK like I'm okay?" He slid down in his bed, resting his head on his pillow. "Get off my bed. I'm going back to sleep." Glitter pulled her head back, eyebrows knitting together. She rolled her eyes as she got to her feet and shuffled out into the hallway. "Miss breakfast, then." She muttered, slamming the wooden door.

Jack instantly felt guilty for being such an asshole to a girl who'd been nothing but nice to him. He sighed, realizing that as soon as she left, the beating in his head had returned.

"HEY!" Glade boomed, limping into Jack's room. "What's this I hear about not getting up?" Glade crossed his arms as he looked down at the tribute unhappily. "Someone's not a happy camper, I can see."

"Why can't you guys just let me sleep, I'm tired." Jack rolled over, pulling his pillow over his head.

"Cause, I'm in charge, I say when you get up." He leaned against the door frame. "Besides, we've arrived at the capitol. I'd say that's rather important, wouldn't you? How about you get your lazy-ass up and come meet your stylist like a good boy?"


End file.
